Optimal camera and antenna integration

Abstract

An antenna module mounted to a roof of a vehicle that includes a plurality of antenna elements for various vehicle communications systems. The antenna module also includes an FDM camera associated with an FDM, where the camera is positioned at the rear of the module and is mounted in a general flat configuration parallel to the roof the vehicle so that the camera field-of-view is directed upward and so that metal components of the camera do not interfere with the radiation pattern of the antenna elements. The camera includes one or more optical elements, such as a prism or reflector, mounted to the camera or other structure that redirects the camera field-of-view rearward of the vehicle.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An antenna module configured to be mounted to a vehicle, said antenna module comprising:
 a platform; 
 at least one antenna element mounted to the platform; 
 a camera module mounted to the platform in a horizontal orientation so that an image plane of the camera module is directed in a vertical direction when the antenna module is mounted to the vehicle and where metal components on the camera module do not significantly interfere with a radiation pattern of the at least one antenna element; and 
 an optical element positioned above the platform and mounting locations of the camera module and the at least one antenna element, said optical element being configured to redirect light beams received from a rear of the vehicle to the camera module so as to redirect the camera module image plane. 
 
     
     
       2. The antenna module according to  claim 1  wherein the optical element is a reflector. 
     
     
       3. The antenna module according to  claim 1  wherein the optical element is a refractive element. 
     
     
       4. The antenna module according to  claim 3  wherein the refractive element is a prism. 
     
     
       5. The antenna module according to  claim 1  wherein the camera module includes a lens that focuses the light beams. 
     
     
       6. The antenna module according to  claim 1  wherein the optical element provides light beam focusing. 
     
     
       7. The antenna module according to  claim 1  wherein the at least one antenna element is a plurality of antenna elements. 
     
     
       8. The antenna module according to  claim 7  wherein the plurality of antenna elements are selected from the group consisting of AM/FM antenna elements, Sirius/XM antenna elements, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) antenna elements, cellular antenna elements and dedicated short range communications (DSRC) antenna elements. 
     
     
       9. The antenna module according to  claim 1  wherein the antenna module is mounted to a roof of the vehicle. 
     
     
       10. The antenna module according to  claim 1  wherein the camera module is part of and provides images for a full display mirror. 
     
     
       11. An antenna module configured to be mounted to a roof of a vehicle, said antenna module comprising:
 a platform; 
 a plurality of antenna elements mounted to the platform; 
 a camera module that is part of and provides images for a full display mirror, said camera module being mounted to the platform in a horizontal orientation so that an image plane of the camera module is directed vertically from the roof and where metal components in the camera module do not significantly interfere with a radiation pattern of any of the plurality of antenna elements, said camera module including a camera lens; and 
 an optical element positioned above the platform and mounting locations of the camera module and the at least one antenna element, said optical element being configured to redirect light beams received from a rear of the vehicle to the camera lens so as to redirect the camera module image plane. 
 
     
     
       12. The antenna module according to  claim 11  wherein the optical element is a reflector. 
     
     
       13. The antenna module according to  claim 11  wherein the optical element is a refractive element. 
     
     
       14. The antenna module according to  claim 13  wherein the refractive element is a prism. 
     
     
       15. The antenna module according to  claim 11  wherein the plurality of antenna elements are selected from the group consisting of AM/FM antenna elements, Sirius/XM antenna elements, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) antenna elements, cellular antenna elements and dedicated short range communications (DSRC) antenna elements. 
     
     
       16. An antenna module configured to be mounted to a roof of a vehicle, said antenna module comprising:
 a platform; 
 a plurality of antenna elements mounted to the platform; 
 a camera module that is part of and provides images for a full display mirror, said camera module being mounted to the platform in a horizontal orientation so that an image plane of the camera module is directed vertically from the roof and where metal components in the camera module do not significantly interfere with a radiation pattern of any of the plurality of antenna elements; and 
 an optical element positioned above the platform and mounting locations of the camera module and the at least one antenna element, said optical element being configured to redirect light beams received from a rear of the vehicle to the camera module so as to redirect the camera module image plane, said optical element providing image focusing. 
 
     
     
       17. The antenna module according to  claim 16  wherein the optical element is a reflector. 
     
     
       18. The antenna module according to  claim 16  wherein the optical element is a refractive element. 
     
     
       19. The antenna module according to  claim 18  wherein the refractive element is a prism. 
     
     
       20. The antenna module according to  claim 16  wherein the plurality of antenna elements are selected from the group consisting of AM/FM antenna elements, Sirius/XM antenna elements, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) antenna elements, cellular antenna elements and dedicated short range communications (DSRC) antenna elements.